Not a Hill of a lot of Romney love

Mitt Romney’s campaign called on the Washington establishment for help this month. The response: a promise of cash, but not much enthusiasm.

On Thursday morning, Romney’s biggest supporters on Capitol Hill are supposed to come out with their best donors to help the GOP front-runner deepen his cash base. But the RSVP list is looking thin.

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Even though the fundraiser is expected to raise $400,000, the figure organizers say is the goal, only 27 of the nearly 80 lawmakers that endorsed Romney had signed on to raise money just two weeks ahead of the event, according a document obtained by POLITICO.

The response reflects an uncomfortable reality for Romney: some Republicans are willing to pony up cash to help him beat President Barack Obama, but that doesn’t mean he’s widely loved.

And as Romney burns through cash faster than he’s bringing it in, he’s going to need all the new donors he can find to broaden his fundraising base. Winning the nomination is just the start of an even more expensive fight with the deep-pocketed Obama campaign.

Romney’s taking the issue seriously. He even made a personal call recently to his friends on Capitol Hill, urging them to participate in the fundraiser Thursday.

But some of Romney’s big-name endorsers aren’t jumping on board. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Romney’s highest ranking congressional endorsement, told POLITICO last week he didn’t have “any involvement” in the event. When asked if he was going, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said he donated at an event in October.

Republicans say it’s not a good time to ask them for money. The end of the fundraising quarter is this week. And the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual spring fundraiser was Tuesday night, where lawmakers are expected to raise six-digits for the party committee.

“Right now everyone is struggling with the cash they have, they’re being hit up by a lot of different places,” said Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), a co-host for the event. “Putting it into context, it looks pretty good. But, to be honest, I don’t know what the totals are.”

The Utah Republican said the pitch he’s been making to get colleagues on board is — “this is a guy that can actually win it.”

The lackluster response is emblematic of a larger problem for Romney —he doesn’t have star power.

No where has that been more clear than on K Street where many veteran Republican fundraisers and bundlers have opted to stay on the sidelines. As GOP candidates like Texas Gov. Rick Perry have dropped out of the race, there has been a slow march towards Romney’s camp with notable GOP downtowners like Kirk Blalock of Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock and Dirk Van Dongen of the National Association Wholesaler-Distributors becoming some of the first converts.

GOP operatives say establishment Republicans in Washington are on board — in name only — and have thus far resisted putting the full weight of their political networks and power into Romney’s operation.